


You've Heard Around the Barrio

by MakeSomethingUp



Series: Café con Revolution [2]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda, In the Heights - Miranda
Genre: Character Study, Crossover, Fluff, Gen, Hamilton/In The Heights crossover AU, Nonbinary Lafayette, Other, Platonic shipping of Hamilton/Lafayette, Probably platonic shipping of Daniela/Lafayette, Relatively platonic shipping of Everything North Of Harlem/Lafayette, Warm fuzzy feelings about changing the world, Warm fuzzy feelings about family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-13
Updated: 2016-01-13
Packaged: 2018-05-13 19:30:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5714425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MakeSomethingUp/pseuds/MakeSomethingUp
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Let's splice <b>Hamilton</b> with <b>In The Heights!</b></p><p>The entire crew from Hamilton either live or have recently moved within four blocks of Washington Heights.<br/>This is a series of 1000 wordish one shots that just explores the characters of each world and how they interact with each other when I throw them together on the street.</p><p> </p><p>  <em>Lafayette fits together with Alexander Hamilton like the two are long-separated puzzle pieces.</em><br/><em>But since moving to Harlem, Lafayette has begun to feel like they may have finally found the entirety of their proverbial puzzle.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	You've Heard Around the Barrio

Alexander and Lafayette had come from such different places to meet so beautifully in the middle. Where they joined, their ragged pasts and missing pieces slotted together like a jigsaw, interlocking and overlapping to create a bond so much stronger and tighter than if either of them had possessed clean, straight edges. It was hugely fortunate- to the both of them and to the world at large- that they had managed to find each other so early on in their professional careers. What could have been an unending uphill struggle against the social injustices that grew like weeds through the cracks of the place they now called home had become- when shared between the two of them- a spirited and passionate fight for what they jointly believed in with so much conviction. Back to back and arms linked; Alexander and Lafayette steadied each other. Assured each other. Inspired each other.

Lafayette’s eventual (inevitable) settling down in Harlem had meant that their usual subway commute to Alexander’s apartment in the middle of Inwood had instead become a comfortably-paced walk through the blocks of Harlem and Washington Heights. This walk had then become a convenient way for Lafayette to get to know all the ins and outs and struggles and woes of their neighbouring residents. When they began to express their concerns for the problems facing the area to Alexander, Alexander had immediately signed himself up as a companion on Lafayette’s daily expeditions.

Together, the two of them walked every inch of the island above 124th, making every shop closure and rent increase and unresolved crime their business. They gathered friendly faces at almost the same rate that they gathered information, both being undeniably (if not, at times, actually unhelpfully) charming. By the time Lafayette had chalked up four months in their new home, most of Washington Heights knew both of their names. More than that, though, the whole area knew their purpose. Alexander and Lafayette were putting in the hard yards to really understand the people and the places around them so that when the time came, they could represent their collective interests in whatever battles needed fighting. Gentrification, discrimination, segregation. They were ready and they were well-versed.

What the locals really liked, though, was that they were both so obviously genuine about making a difference for the better. There was a hope and a brightness in their eyes that was shared by the people that they now waved to in the street.  
Had they met a year ago, those same people may have resented them. For Lafayette’s inherited wealth; for Alexander’s pretentious lawyering suits; for their combined self-assurance that any fight worth fighting was a fight they deserved to be on the front lines of. But all those things fell to the wayside the moment either of them began to say their piece. Alexander spoke with intensity and fire while Lafayette exhibited vigour and spirit. What they shared was an unmatched determination to convey the sentiments of their respective hearts. And it had become all too clear all too soon that Washington Heights and its surrounding suburbs had found a very permanent place in both Alexander’s and Lafayette’s heart.

“Well, you know what they say about a man with a big heart!”  
Daniela’s favourite pass-time had lately become teasing Lafayette about their apparent single status. She and the girls at the salon always had a good enough time gossiping about this boy or that one, newly embarked upon relationships and freshly opened cans of proverbial worms. Since the first day they had started hanging around the barrio, Daniela and Carla had been trying to get the skinny on Lafayette. They dressed interestingly and spoke interestingly and behaved interestingly, and that was more than enough justification for the entire salon to want to uncover their whole life story. Since finding this out, Lafayette had actually begun spending real time with the girls. Often they would just swing by to chat on their way to meet Alexander, but there had been more and more occasions lately where they had showed up with a round of fresh coffee, or even with real intentions to get their hair done.  
Certainly Lafayette knew the game these ladies were playing (it wasn’t as if they tried to hide it in the least), but they came to find that the more they allowed Daniela to tease them, the more they enjoyed it. Looked forward to it even. And the more sass and flirtation they gave, the more they got in return.

“Daniela, mon cheri, they say nothing about the man with a big ‘eart as they are all too busy discussing the one with the sizeable penis!”

The room erupted into various shouts and laughs and squawks of outrage as Lafayette indulged in a fond smile at their favourite girl.  
It seemed entirely bizarre, these days, for them to think back on their life in France. Their diligent but lonely upbringing. Their obsessive studying of the United States legal system. Their enthusiastic correspondence with Alexander Hamilton; a stranger across the sea that felt like an old friend. Even unboxing their belongings in a stagnant apartment in Harlem seemed like a world away to Lafayette now.  
They glanced leisurely around the room, taking in the smiling faces of people they cared about. People that cared about them.  
Lafayette had always wondered what it might feel like to have a real family and a real home. They sipped at their coffee with a contented sigh. It felt magnifique.

**Author's Note:**

> Bare with me erryone, I'm newish to AO3 and still tryna figure if I want series or chapter or new post or blah blah blah.  
> Think I got it now, but if the chapter titles and such change every hour, now you know why.
> 
> Daniela is such a great character and my heart withered a little when I tried to character tag her in this and nothing came up :( So this may well be the first AO3 fic she's ever appeared in!  
> This is also a bit of self-indulgent character study wank regarding Alex and Laf and all their childhood to adulthood similarities and differences. I enjoy rooting around in all them parallels.
> 
> While I don't *think* I ship Lafayette with Daniela in this, a) you're more than welcome to, and b) I do ship Laf later on in this series with other people.  
> So that's just a traditional a/n for you I guess.


End file.
